Tag: Indigenous health
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Eight ANZJPH articles that made headlines in 2025
Hollie Harwood Each year over 1.1 million readers visit and download articles from the Australian and New Zealand Journal of Public Health (ANZJPH). While our journal citations measure impact, they don’t capture one of ANZJPH’s unique strengths – the way that our evidence-based articles influence policy and practice, support advocacy,…
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How my PHAA internship awakened my voice in public health
Mahnoor Muhammad Growing up in Australia as a second-generation migrant Pakistani woman, I’ve always carried two worlds with me. At home, I was surrounded by vibrant culture, language, and food. Outside, I often noticed the gaps, health advice that didn’t reflect our diets, systems that weren’t built with people like…
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In the settler colonial state, how do we incorporate decolonisation into curriculum meaningfully and successfully?
Shayal Prasad and Penelope Smith with Gem Allinson, Holly Donaldson, Dr Kath Francis, Isabelle Haklar, Angela Semanda, and Kesang Thrinlek In the following piece, we use the terms First Nation Australians, Indigenous People and Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander as per the PHAA Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Guide to…
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There’s more to PHAA membership than tax deductions
Penelope Smith The value of a Public Health Association of Australia (PHAA) membership, particularly if you are a student like me, is significant; but for a very long time, my engagement with the Association was little to none. Despite being a member since 2017, it’s only within the last year…
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New global treaty to combat ‘biopiracy’ of traditional knowledge
Miri (Margaret) Raven, Alana Gall, Bibi Barba, Daniel Robinson Last week, at a conference in Geneva, the member states of the World Intellectual Property Organisation agreed on a new treaty aimed at preventing the for-profit piracy of traditional knowledge. So-called “biopiracy”, in which companies lift ideas from traditional knowledge and patent…
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Decolonising public health: reclaiming Indigenous wisdom for an equitable future
Elisapeta Agnes Anitelea, Kesang Thrinlek, Tshering Denka, with support from Penelope Smith and Dr Alana Gall The historical legacy of colonisation has profoundly influenced global health paradigms. Indigenous communities and their leaders, who have been directly affected, are not passive recipients, but active agents in the decolonisation process. Their resilience…
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Cultural wellbeing linked to better health outcomes for First Nations and CALD populations
Dr Joe Thomas Culture is the sum of the lived experience of a group of people. It includes the artefacts of today’s life, collective expressions of norms and values, shared memories, belief systems and knowledge. Culture plays a critical role in health and wellbeing and is transferred intergenerationally. Aboriginal and…
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City students learn about human and animal health in remote communities
Dr Jessica Hoopes, Dr Bonny Cumming, Dr John Hunter and Prof Michelle Power Undergraduate students from a university in northwestern Sydney are learning about human and animal health in remote and rural communities across northern and central Australia. The Macquarie University students have been studying One Health concepts – which…
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What next for the Allies of Uluru?
By Honorary Associate Professor Leanne Coombe, Policy and Advocacy Manager, PHAA On 31 October, I joined a debriefing session with colleagues who are members of Allies for Uluru. We acknowledged and celebrated the extent of activities and efforts taken to support the Uluru Dialogue and Yes23 Campaign in the lead…
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Ways to answer common questions about the Voice to Parliament proposal
PHAA’s Administration and Memberships Officer, Amber Rowe, and CEO, Adj Prof Terry Slevin Introduction The Voice Referendum is a compulsory vote on 14 October. All registered voters in Australia need to turn up. As a result, and as the date nears, more people are turning their mind to the…
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Introducing Dr Alana Gall, Vice President-Elect, (Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander)
Dr Alana Gall will join the Public Health Association of Australia Board as Vice President (Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander) in September 2023. She describes her career to date and discusses her new role. Q: How did you start your career in public health? I originally developed an interest…
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Data shows improvements in Alice Springs following alcohol restrictions
Dr John Boffa, Chief Medical Officer Public Health, Central Australian Aboriginal Congress, Adjunct Professor of Primary Health Care, Charles Darwin University; and Edward Tilton, Senior Health Policy Adviser, Central Australian Aboriginal Congress The highly charged topic of alcohol-related violence in Mparntwe (Alice Springs) made headlines late last year, after the…
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The first sleep health program for First Nations adolescents could change lives
Yaqoot Fatima, The University of Queensland; Azhar Potia, The University of Queensland; James Ward, The University of Queensland, and Mina Kinghorn, The University of Queensland Adolescence is a sensitive life stage when emerging independence, changing social roles, excessive screen time, academic pressures, and significant biological changes can lead to emotional…
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I want to help work toward reconciliation in Australia. What can I do?
PHAA We’ve almost reached the conclusion of this year’s National Reconciliation Week, which finishes up on Saturday 3 June, marking the anniversary of the High Court Mabo decision. There’ve been a range of events to get involved in, and resources to share, led by Reconciliation Australia. What is reconciliation?…
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To reduce harm from alcohol, we need Indigenous-led responses
Lorelle Holland, The University of Queensland; Andrew Smirnov, The University of Queensland; Natasha Reid, The University of Queensland; Nicole Hewlett, The University of Queensland, and Tylissa Elisara, The University of Queensland Alcohol management in Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander communities has been a deeply divisive issue, as seen recently in…
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First Nations people often take on the ‘cultural load’ in their workplaces. Employers need to ease this burden
Nina Sivertsen, Flinders University; Courtney Ryder, Flinders University, and Tahlia Johnson, Flinders University It’s good practice for employers to consult staff when forming policies or guidelines. However, for some staff from diverse backgrounds, this creates extra work and pressure. “Cultural load” in the context of the workplace is the invisible…
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Locking up kids has serious mental health impacts and contributes to further reoffending
Summer May Finlay, University of Wollongong; Ee Pin Chang, The University of Western Australia; Jemma Collova, The University of Western Australia, and Pat Dudgeon, The University of Western Australia This article contains information on violence experienced by First Nations young people in the Australian carceral system. There are mentions of…
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Keeping Pathology Testing in First Nations Communities during the COVID-19 Pandemic
Isabelle Haklar and Tamika Regnier, Flinders University International Centre for Point-of-Care Testing For some rural and remote Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander medical services, turnaround times for traditional pathology testing can span weeks, with samples needing to be transported to urban laboratories hundreds of kilometres away. Roads and runways can…
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High achievers honoured with 2022 PHAA Awards
From L-R: Corina Darkie, A/Prof Sophie Dwyer, Dr Joanne Flavel, A/Prof Brahm Marjadi, A/Prof Christina Pollard. Helen Tran and BF, PHAA Interns PHAA were pleased to announce the winners of five annual awards during the Annual General Meeting in Adelaide. We have briefly profiled these public health leaders, who…
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An Australian CDC is an opportunity to transform the public health workforce
Dr Laksmi Govindasamy Although there are many important aspects for the proposed Australian Centres for Disease Prevention and Control (ACDC) to consider in terms of design, structure, and scope, the potential implications for workforce development may be among the most exciting. The COVID-19 pandemic has highlighted the vital importance of…
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A Q&A with Dr Alana Gall on NAIDOC week, motivations, and public health career so far
Dr Alana Gall, a Pakana woman, PHAA member, and Postdoctoral Research Fellow at the University of Queensland, is conducting crucial research into Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander wellbeing. A discerning paper led by Dr Gall, titled ‘Self-reported wellbeing and health-related quality of life of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people…
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Public health research highlighted during NAIDOC Week
Dr Michelle Kennedy and Dr Leanne Coombe PHAA celebrates this year’s NAIDOC Week theme, as outlined on the official NAIDOC site: “Get Up! Stand Up! Show Up! with us to amplify our voices and narrow the gap between aspiration and reality, good intent and outcome. It’s also time to celebrate…
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Q&A: Indigenous Peoples’ Inclusion in Food Governance
This piece was first published by the Sydney Environment Institute, University of Sydney. Read the original article. For NAIDOC Week, Dr Mark Lock speaks to Dr Belinda Reeve about championing health equity for First Nations Australians and their meaningful inclusion in all dimensions of food governance. By Dr Mark J Lock, University of Technology Sydney & Deakin…
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First Nations mothers are more likely to die during childbirth. More First Nations midwives could close this gap
Pamela McCalman, La Trobe University; Catherine Chamberlain, The University of Melbourne, and Machellee Kosiak, Australian Catholic University While Australia is one of the safest places in the world to give birth, First Nations women are three times more likely to die in childbirth than other Australian women (17.5 vs 5.5…
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Long-serving MP Warren Snowdon retires
Malcolm Baalman, PHAA As happens at every federal election, several long-serving Members of Parliament have retired. Two in particular have influenced public health in Australia. Previously, we acknowledged the service of the Hon. Greg Hunt, former Minister for Health. Today we profile the Hon Warren Snowdon, former Member of the…
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55 years since the 1967 Referendum, what’s changed?
Malcolm Baalman, PHAA Senior Policy and Advocacy Adviser Today is the 55th anniversary since Australians voted in the 1967 Referendum on ‘Aboriginal people’. Widely regarded as a turning point in the nation’s relationship with Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples, the 1967 vote changed our national Constitution. It meant that…
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“Uncomfortable, important and compelling”: Food Sovereignty presentations at Food Futures 2022
Christina Pollard, Melanie Parker, and Food Futures Conference Advisory Committee Over 170 delegates attended the Food Futures Conference 2022, held Wednesday 16 to Thursday 17 March. Expert speakers presented on a range of topics, on the Conference theme of transforming food systems for the planetary and public good. The third…
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Hundreds join the rally cry for greater investment in Australia’s public health workforce
Jeremy Lasek – PHAA In one of the biggest demonstrations of support for significant new investment in Australia’s over-stretched public health workforce, well over 500 people registered for an online symposium on 7 December 2021. The symposium brought together many of Australia’s leading public health experts in the field. Victoria’s…
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Keenan Mundine on his life of incarceration, and making Justice Health more culturally safe
Jeremy Lasek – PHAA We hear plenty about the importance of sharing, and understanding the lived experiences of others. At this week’s 2021 PHAA Justice Health Conference we were privileged to hear a very raw, yet powerful story of the lived experience of Keenan Mundine. Keenan is a proud Aboriginal…
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Government promises action and money to counter Indigenous incarceration, Minister tells Justice Health 2021 conference
Jeremy Lasek – PHAA More action at a local level. More partnerships. More targeted funding. Greater research. And real targets to reduce the number of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islanders in custody in the next decade. Opening the 2021 PHAA Justice Health Conference, Federal Minister for Indigenous Australians, the Hon…